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According to Dr. Gemma , one of the bi g ge s t ch a l len ge s for gener a l s u r - geons is keeping up-to-speed with the most recent technolog y. For exa mple, colorect a l su rger y ha s cha n ged sig- nif icantly in recent years, moving from a n open surger y w it h a long incision to a minima lly-inva sive lapa roscopic procedure. W hen it comes to her nia repa irs, new innovations with robotics have a lso dramatica lly changed the way surgeons operate. G enera l surgeons face ot her cha l- lenges, as well. A s new subspecia lties emerge a nd more specif ic tra ining is required, the practice of genera l surgery has become "specia lized by exclusion," as Dr. Gemma puts it. "One of the unique challenges that gen- eral surgeons face now is that the training has become so specialized in so many of the fields. The old genera l surgeons used to do everything. I'm old enough to know," he remarks. "When I started, the variety of cases went everywhere — from gynecologic cases to urologic cases to chest cases. Over time, the general surgeon's exposure has become much more limited." And while that has advantages, it also has disadvantages. "Unfortunately, as you get out to some of t he com munit y hospita ls a nd you don't have these big resources a round you , especia l ly for new su rgeon s, it cou ld be quite cha l leng ing. There's a whole va riet y of things that ca n come at you. A true 'genera l' surgeon is going by the wayside, which could be a prob- lem — hospita ls need to be sta ffed with surgeons who can handle just about any condition of ever y patient that comes through that door." A s a newcomer to Western Reser ve Hospita l, Dr. Gemma ca n't say enough about the hospital's physician ownership a nd patient-centered ca re philosophy. " The di rect physicia n i nteraction from the administrative level is huge because administrators and physicians don't run hospita ls the sa me way. This hospita l — I've never seen any thing like it," he says. "It 's so family-oriented, and it just seems like ever ybody here wa nts to be pa r t of ma k ing it bet ter for t he patient. I know some institutions a re consistently tr ying to f ig ure out ways to ma ke that happen a nd struggle with it. But at Western Reser ve Hospita l it just seems so easy. And I think the word is out there about what ty pe of hospita l Western Reser ve is a nd how they ca re about the patients." O n t he g r ou nd le ve l , D r. G em m a i mplem ent s t h a t p a t ient - c ent er e d me s sa ge by t a k i n g ex t r a t i me w it h patients, thorough ly educating them a bout t hei r hea lt hca re opt ion s a nd a nswering their questions. "I'm not a big believer in telling someone what needs to be done," he says. "I believe in discussing options with patients, and then helping them make a decision." Western Reserve Hospital Physicians, Inc. includes more than 400 physicians s p e c i a li z in g in p ain m a n a ge m e nt ; endocrinology; diabetes and nutrition management and education; head, neck and plastic surgery; orthopedics; urgent care; and general surgery. Offices are located in Cuyahoga Falls, Hudson, Stow and Streetsboro. For more information, visit http://www.wrhpi.org. To schedule an appointment with Dr. Rick Gemma, call 330-971-7753 or fax 330-971-7598. ■ 1 5 M D N E W S . C O M /// M D N E W S C L E V E L A N D /A K R O N / C A N T O N n S E P T E M B E R / O C T O B E R 2 016